A great bird/trophy can become a horrible mount before it even comes into the shop. To help us we ask you to be careful with your prized birds. By following a few simple suggestions you will help improve your final results. Many of the dirt and blood can be removed, but minimizing this is always helpful.

Here are a few suggestions to help with your trophy:

1. As much as we all love our retrievers, try to retrieve the bird yourself if it is potentially a trophy. This will help in minimizing loss of feathers.

2. Do not carry birds by their necks, this could cause feather loss. Always carry trophies by the feet. If the bird is not dead, please do not wring the neck. A very effective way to finish the bird is to lay the bird on its chest, and apply pressure to the back with your knee or hand, this will suffocate the bird quickly without damage.

3. Once the bird is expired, keep the bird in a dry place, out of harms way. A thought is to carry a small cooler/box to place trophy birds in. Try to place them someplace the blood will not pool greatly. A plastic bag can be good, but don't place multiple birds in one bag. You can also place a cotton ball in the bird's mouth to help minimize how much blood escapes the bird and gets on your feathers. We can remove blood and dirt stains in the shop, but it is best to try to keep the birds as clean as possible.

4. If during anytime the bird gets broken bones or a busted beak these generally are not problems and can be fixed. On the other hand, lost feathers cannot be replaced!

5. Keep birds cool and put them in the freezer ASAP. Place them in a plastic bag; do not wrap the birds in newspaper. You also do not need to vacuum seal the birds, this can damage some of the feathers. Just place the bird in a plastic bag only & tape it shut.

6. Get the bird to us quickly. This will minimize freezer damage and you will receive your trophy back sooner.